Introduction to Leadership

Course Description

No matter your age or what phase of your career you're in, leadership is a crucial skill on the path to success. This course examines how to be a successful (that is, effective) leader. This course asks the crucial questions about leadership in today's organizations: What is leadership and why is it important? What does effective leadership require? What is visionary leadership? What is the role of charisma? What is the difference between managing, administering, and leading? This course offers a balance of the theory of leadership with some real-world application to help you develop this critical skill for personal growth and success. This course is based on D. Quinn Mills' book, Leadership: How to Lead, How to Live, a text used at Harvard Business School. Excerpts of the book are made available via PDF download and no additional purchase is required.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the learner should be able to:

• Define leadership and explain its importance
• Discuss some of the better-known leadership theories (Fiedler's contingency theory; Path-goal theory; Vroom-Yetton-Jago theory)
• Distinguish leadership from management and administration
• Recognize the role of leadership in setting the ethical tone for an organization
• Describe the principles for building an ethical culture
• Explore how leadership requires setting an ethical example
• Discuss how leaders can deal with ethical lapses
• Describe the role of leadership during an ethical crisis
• Apply ethical principles to workplace scenarios
• Discuss the positives and negatives surrounding charismatic leadership
• Recognize the importance of training, learning, and role-playing in leadership
• Discuss the seven bases for leadership
• Explain why formal authority alone does not guarantee leadership
• Discuss the nine key qualities for leadership
• Identify the five central skills needed for effective leadership and explain ways to strengthen or develop those skills in a leader
• Explain the role of leadership in shaping an organization's culture